Fishing in deep waters has historically presented challenges for leisure and commercial fishermen. To achieve fishing at several hundred feet requires the use of very heavily weighted fishing lines and downrigging equipment to produce a desired depth. Additionally, the fishing line being used needs to withstand increased tension leaving the user with having to use a heavier and more costly pound test line. This is both difficult to manage and can lead to large increases in cost in fishing gear.
In recent years, the use of a trolling device has been predominantly explored for submerging a line to a desired depth. A trolling device allows an individual to temporarily attach fishing line and a bait to weighted trolling device that dives to a certain depth and is attached to a separate line usually made of steel. When a fish attacks a bait or lure, the line is disengaged from the trolling device and the fisherman is able to fight and retrieve the fish while the trolling device remains in the water. With the trolling device in the water, the fish potentially becomes entangled with the trolling device unless the trolling device is quickly retrieved. From time to time, the trolling device may also get entangled in a motors engine or propeller leaving a boat operator with having to untangle the line in potentially rough seas.
Some conventional solutions to entanglement include using booms that extend laterally from the side of a boat and keep the trolling device away from a fishing line after a fish is attached and can be retrieved away from the line with the fish on it as the fisherman fights the fish. This solution can also be costly requiring extensive rigging for fishing. Other solutions include utilizing a secondary motor such as a small gas engine to provide thrust for trolling reducing any potential mishaps with the primary boat engine. This solution is also costly and requires an additional investment. As such, what is needed is a cost effective efficient apparatus and method of fishing at great depths.